4.
Top-Down Consultation: The DBDE Blog <ul><li>Digital Economy blog : </li></ul><ul><ul><li>launched 8 December 2008 for two-week trial </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>operated by DBCDE minister Senator Stephen Conroy and his staff </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>building on 2008 report into online government consultation by Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO), commissioned by previous government </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>foreshadowed by Finance Minister Linday Tanner in The Age newspaper article, and launched with a guest post by Tanner </li></ul></ul>

5.
(Archived version of first DBCDE blog post, http://www.archive.dbcde.gov.au/2009/july/future_directions_blog/topics/minister_tanners_welcome)

6.
Digital Economy and Its Aims <ul><li>Lindsay Tanner in The Age (2 Sep. 2008): </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Should we set up our own blogs or just pop up on blogs that are already operating? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>How much leeway should we give public servants to express opinions on behalf of the government? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Should we have public servants blogging as informed private citizens or official representatives of government? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>How much additional resources should be provided to fund government participation? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Should our blogging focus on specific areas of government activity? </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>These questions involve genuine dilemmas. To be worth the time and effort, government blogging will need to be genuine, relevant and meaningful. </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Tanner’s post launching Digital Economy (8 Dec. 2008): </li></ul><ul><ul><li>While the primary aim of this blog is to get your feedback on aspects of the digital economy, we also want to use this opportunity to explore the mechanics of government blogging and hear your thoughts on how we should interact with you online. </li></ul></ul>

7.
(Excerpt from comments to first DBCDE blog post, archived at http://www.archive.dbcde.gov.au/2009/july/future_directions_blog/topics/minister_tanners_welcome)

8.
Timing Is Everything <ul><li>Responses to Digital Economy : </li></ul><ul><ul><li>750 comments on first post within ten days </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>mostly discussion NBN and ‘cleanfeed’ filter </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>limited engagement with blog entry topics </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Success or failure? </li></ul><ul><ul><li>significant user engagement, </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>but not with proposed topics </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>tapping rich vein of citizen sentiment, </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>but not in a way immediately useful to the government </li></ul></ul></ul>

9.
Build It, and They Will Comment <ul><li>Problems with Digital Economy approach: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>initial attempts to avoid hot-button issues </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>only belated engagement with user interests </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>DBCDE staff apparently overwhelmed by level of response </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>‘ cold’ launch – commenters failed to act as community </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>first government blog always likely to be swamped with submissions (on- and off-topic) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>limited timeframe – no chance for development of self-organising social structures in user community </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>seeking out existing online expert communities may have been preferable – e.g. Whirlpool.net.au </li></ul></ul>

17.
Australian Politicians’ Social Media Styles <ul><li>‘ e-Democrats’: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>e.g. Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>use of social media as channels for political messages </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>content updates often by politicians themselves </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>some engagement in direct dialogue with users </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>effective for direct, unmediated transmission of messages, </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>and appreciated by social media users, </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>but difficult to manage for most leading politicians </li></ul></ul></ul>

18.
Australian Politicians’ Social Media Styles <ul><li>‘ Social politicians’: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>e.g. Tasmanian Premier David Bartlett </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>use of social media for everyday purposes </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>content updated by politicians themselves </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>direct engagement with users </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>effective for portraying politicians as human and authentic, </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>but loss of message control and danger of banality, </li></ul></ul></ul><ul><ul><ul><li>and potential conflict between personal and professional personae </li></ul></ul></ul>

19.
Futures for Citizen Consultation? <ul><li>Top-down: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>need for further exploration, better preparation </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>government expertise for engagement with online communities is limited </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Bottom-up: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>highly innovative, but problems in realising full potential </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>may only have real impact in collaboration with media or governments </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Social media: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>perhaps best chance for real, deep engagement </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>significant problems in scaling up beyond individuals </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Most likely need to interweave all three approaches… </li></ul>